Every year I write a predictions article based on what I
see coming to the web in the not so distant future. These predictions cover the
gamut from conventional advertising, to digital marketing, from new tech toys
for our homes and personal use, to innovative game changing technologies that
will alter the world as we know it. Some of my predictions are based on research,
visible trends and the emergence of breakthrough technologies. Others are based
on what I see as missing in a world full of me too products, poor customer service
and blatant false advertising. In this episode of Working the Web to Win, I am going
to go out on a limb (again) and see if I can keep my 98.5% prediction batting average
streak going for another year. So read on and discover what my crystal ball has
in store for 2016 and beyond.

You may not have noticed, but
artificial intelligence, otherwise known as AI, has been sending its
all-knowing tendrils slowly but surely onto the World Wide Web. Many of the largest tech companies are arduously
working to be the first to perfect this technology so they can corner the
market. The big players include Google, Apple, Facebook, Microsoft, IBM, and
Amazon. Google has been in the headlines a lot recently. At first, its foray
online was tenuous at best and comical at worst when Google created an AI that
it turned loose to try to make sense of the images it encountered. Hoping to find a workaround for one of the
search engine’s biggest lapses, which makes search engine spiders blind to
images and videos, the attempt resulted in hilarity when Google’s creation
began to morph images as it tried to make sense of queries posed about
them.

For example: When asked to
display a picture of a dumbbell, it created a representation of the dumbbell,
complete with the arm holding it. (See
image at right)

f this were the only
aberration exhibited by the AI it would be considered a humorous anomaly. However, this proved to only be the tip of
the AI iceberg. Many of the requests for
images put to Google’s neural net returned bizarre pictures that produced
chimeras that were one part animal and one part object. (If you want to see some truly bizarre
creations, go to this link to see the blog post on iflscience.com entitled, Google’s
AI Can Dream and Here’s What it Looks Like.

Other than answering Isaac
Asimov’s query as to whether Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, what Google may
have inadvertently done was to create the world’s first robotic Picasso. What
they also did was unleash the same image recognition facility that causes
people to see a Man in the Moon, or recognizable patterns in clouds. The difference is that not only can Google’s
neural net find the shape of a pig in a cumulous cloud, it can also “See”
visual patterns in sound.

Undeterred by the psychedelic
tendencies of its creation, Google then went on to unleash its AI on everything
from its digital assistant, called Google Now, to search engine tasks, the
latter of which has been dubbed RankBrain.

Using what it learned from
its foray into image recognition, Google’s latest AI iteration has been tasked
with making sense of queries posed to its search engine, particularly
long-tailed queries. The best way to understand
the purpose of RankBrain is to read
this a short paragraph posted on Bloomberg.com:

The system helps Google deal with the 15 percent of queries a
day it gets which its systems have never seen before. For example, it’s
adept at dealing with ambiguous queries, like, “What’s the title of the consumer
at the highest level of a food chain?” And RankBrain’s usage of AI means it
works differently than the other technologies in the search engine.

What makes RankBrain
different from traditional search engine algorithms is that it “learns” from

experience. While it isn’t yet ready to
pass the Turing Test, where an AI is indistinguishable from a human when
conversing with it, it appears to be on the right track. RankBrain has for the
past few month been asked to deal with the 15 percent of queries a day Google gets which its systems have trouble
deciphering. And while it doesn’t
exactly “converse” with search engine users, it has already proven 10% more
efficient at guessing which pages on Google would rank on top. (Not bad for a 4-month old.)

One
of Google’s senior scientists, Greg Corrado, even admitted that in the few
months it has been deployed, RankBrain has become the third-most important
signal contributing to the result of a search query.

Google’s CEO Sundar Pinchai
also admitted, “Machine learning is a core transformative way by which we are
rethinking everything we are doing.”

While currently RankBrain is
the tail that wags the Google’s dog, there are a number of tech analysts that
think AI is going to take on a larger portion of search engine duties for the
world’s most popular search engine.
There are also several who think this might not be a good thing.

In
a blog post by thesempost.com entitled, “Google’s RankBrain – 9 Industry
Experts Weigh In,” Jack Clark commented that, “RankBraincannotlearn on its own yet. It needs to be
retrained by engineers at the moment. But what happens when algorithms are
unleashed on the web that can learn on the fly based on the billions of queries
being performed each day globally? When that happens, not even Google’s
engineers will fully understand how each algorithm works.”

Now I don’t know about you,
but I feel more than slightly uneasy about giving up control of the Internet to
a thinking machine. Especially when the
Internet is wired into nearly everything that humans do on a day to day basis. Now some people would say that I am taking
this view to the extreme. I mean,
RankBrain is only a tool being employed on one search engine, albeit it a
search engine that dominates search.
Taking the alarmist view of “Today the Internet, tomorrow the world” is
going a bit too far, right? Not if you
ask several public figures, such as Stephen Hawking and Elon Musk their
thoughts.

Prof Stephen Hawking, one of
Britain's pre-eminent scientists, has said that efforts to create thinking
machines pose a threat to our very existence. He told the BBC: "The development of
full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race." His
warning came in response to a question about a revamp of the technology he uses
to communicate, which involves a basic form of AI.

Billionaire Elon Musk, CEO of
Tesla and SpaceX put it more bluntly, when
he expressed the opinion that, “With artificial intelligence, we are summoning the demon.” He also admitted that he “invests in companies working on artificial
intelligence, just to be able to keep an eye on the technology".

This philosophy is hardly
what one could call paranoid, since a number of other major players, including
Facebook and Microsoft are also investing heavily in AI.

Facebook’s director of
research, Professor
Yann LeCun, one of the most prominent figures in Deep Learning research, stated
in September that, “One of the dreams we have had for years is some sort of
intelligent agent that seems clever enough to do a lot of tasks, including
organizing meetings with friends and accessing information that might take you
an hour or two on Google.”

To assist in those aims,
Facebook recently launched a virtual assistant called “M”, which is an obvious
response to Apple’s Siri, Google Now and Microsoft’s Cortana. The difference with M is that it was created
with AI from the outset.

“What we are hoping
to do is take this digital assistant idea to the next level. If you think about
Siri, Cortana, Google Now – most of the answers they provide are scripted.
Someone has imagined the possible answers and figured out a tree of
possibilities. If you go outside of the script, the machine responds with a
joke or tries to get out of it. All of its behavior is programmed by humans,
but what we are trying to do with M is test the ability of a machine to
learn.” Professor
Yann LeCun

To those ends, Facebook has
been spending time and money acquiring talent and AI firms in their quest to
enhance machine intelligence. In 2014,
they spend $40 million to acquire Vicarious FPC, an artificial intelligence
firm whose avowed goal is to “replicate the neocortex, “which is the part of
the brain that sees, controls body functions, understands language and
processes math. Not only did Facebook go
in on the deal, the buyout was split between it, Apple Computer and none other
than Elon Musk.

Can Microsoft Reinvent Itself Via AI?

Not to be outdone and vying
to climb back to the top of the tech pyramid, Microsoft has also been pushing a
pile of chips into the AI pot. Entering
the fray on two fronts, machine learning and what is referred to as “invisible
interface technology,” Microsoft is looking to reinvent the way we access
technology.

Yoram
Yaacovi, who heads up Microsoft’s research and development center in Israel, said in a Wall Street Journal interview in 2014 that,“User
interface started with the command prompt, moved to graphics, then touch, and
then gestures. It’s now moving to invisible UI, where there is nothing to
operate. The tech around you understands you and what you want to do” — and
that’s what people expect, he said. “We’re putting this at the forefront of our
efforts".

The
last statement begs to ask, “What if your device understands the request, but
fails to comply? In the sci-fi classic,
2001 a Space Odyssey, HAL, the artificial intelligence that controlled the
spaceship Discovery decided that the best way to complete its mission was to
kill the human crew that manned it. Mirroring that sentiment, Elon Musk
recently quipped on stage that a future AI system tasked with eliminating spam
might decide the best way to accomplish that aim was to eliminate humans.

Whether
this is just a case of life imitating art, or whether it’s something we need to
take a hard look at, the bottom line is that AI will soon worm its way into
every Internet-enabled device on the planet.
Since everything from appliances we have in our homes and offices to the
vehicles we drive, or are driven or flown by are connected to the World Wide
Web, only time will tell if having a “brain in the box” is a good thing or a
bad thing.

All
I know is that I have enough trouble trying to keep my smartphone from
rewriting every text I post. What really
causes me to lose sleep at night is worrying about how long it’s going to be
before I’m forced to say, “Open the garage door, Hal.”

In
this article I discuss how the development of AI (artificial intelligence) is creeping
into all aspects of the web and global communications. This article further
provides details on how the largest tech companies including Google, Apple, Facebook, Microsoft, IBM, and Amazon
are all in a race to corner the AI market. It also discusses how little regard
is being given to the idea that AI could pose a threat to mankind.

If you feel your business could use some help with its marketing, contact us at 904-410-2091,We will provide a free marketing analysis to help you get better results. If
you'd like a free copy of our eBook, "Internet Marketing Tips for the 21st
Century," please fill in the form below and we will give you immediate
access to it. Your information is always kept private and is never sold. Don't forget to Plus us on Google+.

Carl
Weiss is president of WorkingtheWebtoWin.com a
digital marketing agency in Jacksonville, Florida that routinely works with
bloggers and other online marketers to grow their businesses.

You’re a new business owner, ready to buy your first advertisement,
so you call the local newspapers, radio and TV stations along with several coupon
and website vendors to see what they have to offer. Unfortunately, you have never
purchased advertising before and you’re hoping the advertisers will help you figure
out exactly what to do. You may not realize that most advertising sales reps are
paid mainly on commission and their primary mission is to sell you advertising or
they don’t make any money. What happens next is all too often the scenario that
plays out. In this article we will follow this scenario and cover a simple 10 step
program that will insure you’re buying the right advertising and that your return
on investment has the best chance of making a profit. Now let’s get back to that
scenario.

(We'll cover 12 ways online scammers can steal from you this Christmas.)

TIS
the season… to be scammed by online scammers who are out to steal your holiday
cheer. Every year as online commerce
grows, so do online scams. Today’s
cybercriminals are going to try to entice you into giving them your hard earned
cash through a number of ever more imaginative scams. In today’s blog, I will endeavor to give you
a leg up on the top 12 ways to avoid getting Grinched this holiday season.

For
all intents and purposes the Internet has been in existence for 20 years. During
that time, the entire world has literally been at our fingertips online. But has the advent of the World Wide Web made
people smarter, or has it truly made us dumber as we become more reliant on having
access to all kinds of information at the click of a mouse? In today’s blog, I will look at how the Internet
has affected us as a species, as well as examining whether it appears to be helping
or hurting our intellectual evolution. I
will also delve into the rise of web-enabled “smart devices” that will soon be taking
control of everything from our appliances to driving our cars.

Caution: Slippery Road Ahead

As
I entered the office building where I work, I spied a young woman who works in the
office across the hall coming down the stairs.
Wearing high heels with her head canted forward, she was looking at her smartphone
and texting as she descended the staircase.

“You’d
better be careful before you wind up taking a tumble,” I told her as she made her
way through the lobby.

“Not
to worry,” she responded without looking up from her phone. “I do this all the time.”

“I
know,” I shot back. “That’s what I’m worried
about.” As she headed toward the exit, I looked back to see if she ran into the
door, as well as wondering whether I was the only one who seemed to realize that
the world is becoming an increasingly impersonal place?

Maybe
it’s a generational issue, but I remember a time when people weren’t so absorbed
in technology that it became a hazard to their health. I also remember when people took the time to meet
and talk without having to bring their technological ball and chain with them.

Think
about it, the same technology that puts the world at our fingertips has actually
caused our species to become more and more isolated. Between texting, social networking, chat rooms,
home delivery apps and virtual worlds such as Second Life, it is now possible to
avoid interpersonal contact altogether. (Any
parent of a teenager will agree with this conundrum.) What’s even worse is that technology has insinuated
itself into practically every corner of modern society. If you don’t believe me, go to a restaurant or
coffee shop and see how many people are either texting or surfing the web while
they eat, even if they have a dining companion sitting across from them. Most people refer to this as multitasking. I call it rude.

Besides,
research has proven that multitasking isn’t helping us as a species. It’s hurting us. Everyone from Stanford Professor Dr. Clifford
Nass to Michael Gazziniga, Director of the Sage Center for the Study of the Mind,
agrees that multitasking negatively affects everything from attention span and writing
quality, to task completion and brain function.

“Stanford researchers compared groups of
people based on their tendency to multitask and their belief that it
helps their performance. They found that heavy multitaskers—those who multitask
a lot and feel that it boosts their performance—were actuallyworseat multitasking than those who like to do a single thing at a time. The frequent
multitaskers performed worse because they had more trouble organizing their thoughts
and filtering out irrelevant information, and they wereslowerat switching from one task to another. Ouch.”

In the tests, the researchers created two groups
of students, those who heavily engaged in media multitasking and those who didn’t. Each group was then given a series of exercises
to test everything from pattern recognition and organizational skills to their ability
to filter out irrelevant information. To
their surprise, the research indicated that the more heavily students engaged in
multitasking, the worse they did at these tasks. Puzzled at why the multitaskers did so poorly,
the researchers thought that maybe they excelled at switching from one task to another. So they tested this hypothesis only to conclude
that once again, the light multitaskers outperformed the heavy multitaskers.

"They couldn't help thinking about the task they
weren't doing," Ophir said. "The high multitaskers are always drawing
from all the information in front of them. They can't keep things separate in their
minds."

So
profound were the discoveries made in this study that it led the researchers to
wonder if it was the Internet that had somehow interfered with the cognitive function
of the brains of students who were heavily into multitasking, or if they were in
fact born with an inability to concentrate.
Either way, the heavy multitaskers, by exhibiting an inability to filter
out irrelevant information were clearly at a disadvantage. Even more alarming, some of the heavy multitaskers
also exhibited the same physiological symptoms as drug addicts. In other words, the more they multitasked, the
more electronic stimuli they craved.

Digital
addiction is nothing new. Ever since video
games were introduced back in the 1970’s a percentage of the population has espoused
a propensity to playing until they dropped.
Back then to feed this Jones meant lining up with quarters at the local arcade
or locking yourself in your bedroom to play game consoles until your parents dragged
you downstairs for dinner. But with the advent
of the smartphone, the ability to feed your need at any time and place means that
a much higher percentage of the population is psychologically addicted to tech in
one form or another. This is creating a problem
for many.

“Benjamin Wong, a counsellor at Richmond
Addiction Services, said he works with individuals between the ages of
12 to 25 and their families to support them in dealing with digital addictions—
when they just can't separate themselves from a screen, be it a smartphone, computer
or gaming device.”

Just
like drug addicts, the effort to break a digital addiction takes a lot of time
(as much as a year). It also isn’t relegated
merely to Millennials. Even Baby Boomers
can get hooked on tech. And the tawdry road
that leads to digital addiction is a more slippery slope than that experienced by
devotees of illicit pharmaceuticals. As opposed
to back alley deals, digital addiction can be as simple as accessing your favorite
social media site.

"Just imagine that Facebook is like a digital water cooler.
I was drinking A TON of water every hour," he wrote. "Although I'm not
a neuroscientist, I'd venture to say that what was happening was related to my Dopamine
levels--when I was checking status updates on Facebook, my brain was rewarding itself
with Dopamine; when I wasn't, and Dopamine levels dropped as a result, I started
'jonesing for a fix.'"

Jonesing
for a Facebook Fix? You heard that right. You and the 700,000 other people that read Jason’s
essay. Is it any wonder that professionals,
including the National Institutes of Health are becoming increasingly concerned
over the deleterious effects of digital addiction. While Information Addiction Disorder (IAD) is
still not listed as an official psychiatric disorder, its counterpart, Internet
Gaming Addiction was added in 2013, (better late than never).

(Score: Internet 2 Evolution:
0)

As
our wired world continues its march toward technological domination, far from being
an isolated incident, IAD will continue to spread as the Internet becomes available
to more and more of the world’s population. (Google is building blimps that are
intended to bring the Internet to isolated parts of the world.) To make matters
worse, a new age of internet-enabled appliances, clothing and devices such as cars
are going to inevitably make inroads into a number of areas that were once thought
exclusively the domain of human beings.

“I look back at the time my
parents taught me how to parallel park, and it's a very fond memory. Now all you
need to do is push a button and your car will parallel park itself. Makes me wonder
what our lives will become. Is the future really about pushing a lot of buttons
to get things done?

Attending the Consumer Electronics
Show this year, you would have thought it was the Year of Smart: smart homes, smart
cars, smart fridges, smart forks and spoons, smart watches, smart TVs, and even
smart toilets. All of these devices have the ultimate goal of tracking, storing,
analyzing, optimizing and educating us humans on how we can be better, healthier,
fitter or smarter. It was all a bit overwhelming. If only everything that happens
in Vegas really did stay there. ”

(Score: Internet 3 Evolution:
0)

My partner Hector told me about the new Terminator movie where it depicted a possible scenario of our not too distant future. In this future, everyone was wanting and waiting for a single operating system called Genesis. This new OS would run every machine and appliance that we use. The reason people wanted this change was so that it would make it easier for us to learn and use these devices. However the new OS in the movie was actually the artificial intelligence called Sky Net - poised to take over the world and kill off most of the human race. This is not too different from the doomsday proclamations as those issued by the likes of Elon Musk and Stephen Hawking concerning the emergence of artificial intelligence.

There is no doubt that the Internet has allow us access to vast amounts of information and given us a huge knowledge base to draw from. With this the huge amount of knowledge also come a vast amount of responsibility. As to whether the Internet is going to wind up making us smarter or dumber, all I can say is this - that if society takes just a few more steps toward technology, it’s probably going to be game, set, match as far as human evolution is concerned.

----

In
this article I have discussed how the improper use of the internet has created
a large segment of tech addicted humans worldwide. I provide real studies that show
how multitasking people preform much worse than those who don’t multitask and
how people actually show withdrawal symptoms when access to their social
networks are not available.

If you feel your business could use some help with its marketing, contact us at 904-410-2091,We will provide a free marketing analysis to help you get better results. If
you'd like a free copy of our eBook, "Internet Marketing Tips for the 21st
Century," please fill in the form below and we will give you immediate
access to it. Your information is always kept private and is never sold. Don't forget to Plus us on Google+.

Carl
Weiss is president of WorkingtheWebtoWin.com a
digital marketing agency in Jacksonville, Florida that routinely works with
bloggers and other online marketers to grow their businesses.

By Hector CisnerosI have been
actively networking in a number of organizations since the early 1980’s. My experience,
tells me that most people get out of social networking what they put into it. People
often come up to me after a speaking engagement and ask, what is the magic formula
for networking success. How can they become successful as a social Networker? My
answer is always the same, it’s not a magic formula, although many perceive it to
be a secret, a powerful principle or other hidden system of techniques. My answer
always state that the secret is in plain sight. Look at the word “network” and the
answer is in the title itself. The first parts of this series addressed
the relationship between face to face networking and social media. Part two addresses the secret aspects
of Giving. In part three of this series, we will discuss the habits that must be
acquired and followed, in order to become a consummate Networker. We’ll be looking
at 15 important habits which will guide and drive your success. So let’s get to
work and begin by dissecting the term Social Networker.

Check out the videocast

(1) Its Net Work! – The term Social Network
is made up of three words. Social, Net and Work. Word of mouth marketing means that
when you go out, its net “work”, not net “sit,”
“eat,” or “socialize.” I don’t mean being unfriendly or uncordial, but you
have to be focus. Is your conversation about football or the evening news or is
it about networking? Ask questions related
to networking. Ask questions like: How can you help them out? What are they looking
for? Who are you looking for this week? Who are they working on this week? What's the biggest challenge you faced this week?
Likewise, let them know who you’re looking for when they in turn say – what are
you looking for? By the same token, if you are engaging in social networking online,
you have to stay focused. Don’t get distracted by all of the posts. Do your work
first. Thank your referral partners, influencers, and testimonial givers first.
Post you’re curated and authoritative post before socializing with your friends
and family.

(2) There is no such thing as “least effort, most
gained.
- In networking, most effort equals most
gained. Even when you have leverage, like when speaking to a crowd, you still have to be prepared. Cutting corners, skipping meetings, winging your short presentations, dressing
inappropriately, wearing wrinkled clothes, being late, etc., won’t help you be successful. Being successful requires effort. Not only right
effort, but attention to detail and consistent effort. There is no substitute for
serious effort.

(3) It's Not a Meeting, its Marketing – Remember, word of mouth
is marketing, not just a meeting. You have at least four opportunities at most networking
events to network with others. The first, open networking before the event begins.
The second is when you get to stand up and give your short presentation. The third
is when you are a spotlight speaker, and the fourth is after the networking event
where more open networking takes place. Don’t waste any of your marketing opportunities.

(4) Everyone is not your potential referral partner
or client
- Another myth about networking is that you have the potential to pass referrals
to every business in the group and likewise also receive business from everyone
in the group. The reality is you can probably do lots of business (about 70% of
your referrals, passed and received) with only a few members of the group. This
is usually a select few, around seven people that you meet regularly with. The rest
of the group will at best provide about 30% of your referrals (both passed and received.)
Even if you have a product or service that “is used by all”, it doesn’t mean they
are your potential client or referral partners. They may already have pre-existing
relationships that will preclude them from doing business with you. The only way
to find out for sure is to put in the time necessary to meet all the members of
your group and explore how you can help each other.

(5) Meeting with people one on one is the best way
to get more referrals. Listening to

other short presentations and discussing current
needs during open networking is helpful, but it’s no substitute for a one on one
face to face meeting to explore how you can help each other. The face to face meetings
also need to be focused both on education and on learning what's important to each
of the parties present. You not only have to learn about each other’s businesses,
you also have to learn what drives each of you to get up in the morning, what motivate
each of you to succeed. Both the business education and the personal motivators
need to be explored if you really want to help each other. Lastly, it’s important
to learn about the personal aspect of your referral partner’s lives. Things like
their kids and spouse’s name, hobbies and past times they like to engage in. Learning
these aspects and then taking them into account when interacting with your partners
also helps to strengthen the relationship. This is why I think so many sales are
made during golf outings.

(6) There are many NetworkingSkills that need to
be mastered.
- Being skilled at working a room or presenting will not take you to the top two
percent of all Networkers. You need to have a givers mindset to start with and a
willingness to do whatever it takes. You also need to learn other skills as well. First, you also have to have good communication
and selling skills. I don’t mean closing tricks or techniques, but solid business
consulting, listening and solution-designing skills. You also need to ask for the
order. Another way of giving is being active in the management and production of
the network itself. What I am referring to here is being active in the group’s leadership.
Serving the group gives you more visibility, and this can eventually lead to more
referrals. However, doing a poor job in a leadership position can also lead to less
business as well.

(7) Specific is Terrific. - When presenting at a
meeting or online, being specific will increase your results drastically. If you’re
asking for a referral, being specific can be the difference between failure and
success. It can mean the difference between an easy qualified referral and a referral
that not only is a lead, it’s a bad lead. Being specific is most effective when
you have already built trust among the members of a networking group. However, it
can also help you find what you need when posting on your social networks. I often
see Networkers ask for a specific referral by name and then another members of that
network respond by saying, “I can connect you with that person.” This is very common
in BNI and on LinkedIn. By the same token, if you post a question asking for help
with a specific issue on a social network you will almost always get that help.
Even if you’re asking for one more sale to reach your goal. Again, this assumes
you have taken the time to build trusting relationships with your social networks.

(8) Practice Improves Performance. - You would never pay a radio station or TV company
to “just wing” your commercials. So why do
so many Networkers’ just wing it when doing their short presentations? Spend time
every week writing down and practicing aloud your short presentation. This should
be a “Must Do” item on your networking checklist. I spend about 20 minutes writing
out my 60-second presentation for BNI. Once
written, I then practice saying it aloud. I then practice it again the night before
and the morning of the meeting, each and every week. Practice is an easy way to
improve your performance. Don’t be lazy, the practice will improve your ability
to get more referrals.

(9) One-sized Presentation don’t fit all Networks. - Every Networker needs
to create and practice a 30-second, a 60-second, a two-minute, a five-minute, and
even a 15-minute presentation. There are many networking opportunities and each
group has its own rules. Being prepared gives you a leg up on the competition when
it comes to building your credibility among the other members. By having these five
different presentations ready to go at all times, you will be able to step in with
short notice and take advantage of more speaking opportunities.

(10) Presentation Necessities. - Make sure your presentation
includes your name. It should also have some type of “hook or catch phrase.” Consider
telling a compelling story, adding an offer, and/or a call to action. I like to
tell my referral partners to remind their prospect that I’ll provide them with a
web analysis worth $600 for free, if the three of us can schedule coffee or lunch
meeting. Also make sure all your contact information is listed on your handouts
and at the end of your power point presentations.

(11) To be the best, you have to PROVIDE the best. – Always deliver the best
product or service you’re capable of for the money being paid. Most companies provide “just good enough” products
or services for the money they receive. Exceeding your customers' expectations should
be your goal. I’m not saying to give away the farm, but to be considered the best,
you have to provide the best. This, however, does not mean you charge the most for
your product or services. It means you provide the best value for the money spend.
People shop value not price. Be more valuable!

(12) Networking as a team works best. - When attending networking
events, it’s best to team up with another referral partner where you both know each
other’s objectives; this allows you to “split the room” to work it more efficiently.
Let each team member know who you're looking to be introduced to and vice versa,
be ready to help your partners find their and introduce prospects to them. I generally
set a goal of finding one or two new prospects/referral partners every 10 to 20
minutes. My goal is not to sell anyone anything but instead to set up meetings at
a later date to have a more meaningful conversation that allows us to find mutual
benefit.

(13) Track and measure as much as possible. - It’s important that you
track your actions and engagement. Both face to face and social media Networking
can be tracked, measured, and the results can be predicted. Word of mouth marketing
is quantifiable. It can produce predictable results. If you know how many events
you plan to attend each year (approximately) and you track how often you meet with
referral partners, and track the results of the referral (i.e., close ratio to referrals
received), you will quickly learn what your average weekly, monthly, quarterly and
annual sales results are. I know that I received about two referrals a month from
my BNI chapter, and I usually get four referrals when I am the spotlight speaker.
I know that if I get in front of qualified referrals, and actually provide them
a business proposal, I will close about 57% of them. By the same token, I know on
average home many followers read our blogs based on the number of social post published
each day. I also know that the more quality interactions I engage in raises the
number of social leads I receive as well.

(14) Always bring your networking tools with you. Never attend a networking
event without a name badge, something to write with, your business cards, a list
of potential prospects, and a how can I help you attitude. On the social media side,
always make sure your profile is complete, answer all engaged followers, help all
influencer and provide useful, relevant and
timely content, preferable your own authoritative material daily.

(15) You should calculate what your time is worth. - If you understand the
time value of

money, you can better measure how effective you are when spending
your time at networking events. You can come up with this figure in many ways. I
look at my annual production rate in dollars and divide it by the number of working
hours that I spent to produce that dollar amount. Some people take their annual
pay and divided it by the amount of time they spend networking. Others look at the
total cost of networking activities (including drive time, parking fees, meal, meeting
fees and organization fee, etc.), add that to the hourly value of time they spend
networking to come up with a figure. If you do this exercise you will realize the
word of mouth and social media networking are not free. First of all, it’s not cheap
because there are hard cost (membership fees, meal fees, parking and other travel
cost), and lastly they actually consume a considerable amount of time and energy
(which also equals money)! That means you have to be efficient as a Networker, otherwise
you’re throwing your money away. This will make you understand the importance of
delivering a polished and practiced short presentation. It will make you realize
the value of effectively engaging in meaningful one to one meetings. It will also
make it perfectly clear the value of leveraging your long presentations when you
get to deliver your message to a large group of networking enthusiast.

In this article
I have provided 15 specific Social Networking Secrets & Best Practices that
will elevate your social networking performance to new levels. These 15 best practices
will provide the reader with an effective way to increase their networking efficiency
and improve their social networking effectiveness. Yes it will help you get more
referrals. It shows how teamwork, practice and planning can mean the difference
between coming up empty handed and walking away with several referrals and new referral
partners.

If you feel your business could use some help with its marketing, contact us at 904-410-2091,We will provide a free marketing analysis to help you get better results. If you'd
like a free copy of our eBook, "Internet Marketing Tips for the 21st
Century," (in its 3rd edition), please fill in the form below. You will
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By Hector Cisneros I have been actively networking in a number of organizations since the early 1980’s. My experience, tells me that most...

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